MIT Women’s Gymnastics Club

10/01/09

We have begun our second week of practice with the club team and things are going pretty smoothly.  Several freshmen are eager to continue their gymnastics and we look forward to their contributions to the team.  Our practices have been focused on basic skills and conditioning so we can get back in shape and prepare our bodies for the season ahead while hoping to protect ourselves from injury.  The season we have in line so far is about a month longer than the previous varsity seasons, so the preparation will be a bit different than that of the past. 

We’re currently working on setting up a “Friends of MIT Gymnastics” to re-establish contact with alums and gain their support through this difficult transition.  We’ll keep you updated on the status of that project.

Last Friday Lauren Kuntz turned 19.  We celebrated with the traditional birthday cake topped with funfetti frosting.  Happy Birthday Lauren!

Check out the article in last Friday's Tech issue about the varsity sports that were cut last spring and several club sports that were created:  http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N39/clubsports.html

11/06/09

Last Friday we continued our Halloween tradition of wearing costumes to practice and consuming a large amount of sugar.  Each class decides on a costume theme together and unveils it to the rest of the team.  (See the pictures below.)  The freshmen were cleverly dressed up as MIT Varsity Athletes.  The Sophomore/Junior class dressed as super heroes, with Karis representing the Disney Channel hero Kim Possible and her naked mole rat.  The seniors decided to be animals and posed in their respective stances.  The coaches also participated in the costumes this year as ‘Ghosts of Gymnasts Past.’  Notice the eerie chalky faces that get whiter as the gymnast ages.  Everyone shared some goodies with the team and Sarah made her delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the second year.

With the competition season fast approaching, we are forced to look ahead to the prospective line-ups on each event.  Because our team is much smaller this year, this week has brought about several teammates adding events to their repertoire.  We are getting closer to routines on the event and hope to have a full line-up for the upcoming club meets.

11/15/09

Karis received a special letter from Rachel Tatem last Monday (see below).  Congrats to the new beaver!!

Dear (CB) Karis Stevenson,

Congratulations!  It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as the new BEAVER for the competition seasons of 2010 – 2012.  As I am sure you already know, this honor also comes with a great deal of responsibility, but I am confident that you can handle the position beautifully.  Your application was, perhaps, the most hysterical of the bunch and you also proved yourself to be rock solid in a completely normal interview setting.

There are a few requirements and responsibilities that come with the position:

1.You must be in charge of leading the MIT Beaver Call at all competition events.  Despite our small team size, you are in charge of making sure that our tiny voice is heard loud and clear.  This is especially important as we approach the new club season and get exposed to different teams.  We want to give off the right first impression.

2.You are responsible for coming up with/leading some less important but still exciting cheers.  For example, you are to facilitate the “Beaves on 3” cheer, and any others that you particularly enjoy.

3.At the last competition of your senior year, you must hold an intense application, audition, and interview selection in order to choose your successor.  This may, in fact, be one of your finest moments as an MIT gymnast.  I will send you all of the information I used, which can be a big help.  You are responsible, however, for making the process unique to you, and for making it slightly more ridiculous than last time.

You should be very proud to receive this position, and I am honored to pass along the torch to you.

Sincerely,

CB Rachel